Harry Potter and the Order of the Dragon
by SmellyCat190
Summary: After Destiny's mistake, Harry is sent back to train the once dispersed DA into elite Warriors, as well as train his chosen for a special task that will slowly delve them deeper into the War than ever before. But who said it was going to be easy? ON HOLD!
1. Cars, spars and dust

Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters, places (unless they are of my own creation and I shall add notes in for that later), songs etc. Most of this belongs to JK bows.

I would recommend your read HOTL first, but although it's not necessary, you might come to understand this better.

* * *

_**Last time - from Heir of the Legends:**_

_She then turned back towards Harry, whose grin died faster than the speed of sound, and instructed him to stand still before she waved her wand, and a dark green light engulfed him._

_He felt himself shrink, his arms retracted and several other things, and before he knew it, he was indeed a snake._

_Unfortunately, he didn't understand a word they were saying around him, despite the curious looks._

"_Bugger…damn this snake thing…"_

'_I will pretend I didn't hear that.'_

'_What…who is this?'_

'_I believe we have only met the once, whenever that Gryffindor imbecile decided to take all the credit for out school.'_

'_Salazar Slytherin…what are you speaking to me for? And why only when I'm a snake?'_

'_The second answer would be because dear Gryffindor is afraid of snakes and refuses to stay to speak to you in this form. The second of these answers would be that you may be a Gryffindor dunderhead, but also a partly Slytherin dunderhead as well, however, I believe, and I have dreaded saying this for many years to any child, we need to talk.'_

'_Um…ok…'_

'_What you may not have heard before, is that I am what people like to call Fate. I have an influence of the way people's lives, effectively, are lived. However, what the people who chose the jobs forgot to realise, whenever they put Godric as Destiny, is that the man regularly screws up, and rushes into things nineteen times out of twenty.'_

'_You can say that again.'_

'_And, with you and your friends, Godric has made one heck of a mistake.'_

_Harry was silent._

'_As while you are indeed his Heir, as well as the Heir of Merlin, you are my Heir also.'_

'_Well, that's certainly interesting…I really should be shocked, you know, but I just can't be…I am just getting used to all this…you said something about my friends as well?'_

'_Indeed. What you have never been told, as has no-one else, is that a Prophecy was made many thousands of years, concerning the Heir of the Legends, with his 'league of warriors' if you will. This league consists of the representative Heirs, friends of the Heir, who help defend the world from a great evil. This also consists of those you select to fight, to be known as the 'Order of the Dragon', due to the Founders' love of those Magical Creatures.'_

'_Still not surprised…I can pick out in my mind already who these people are - should I assemble them?'_

'_What you have to understand is that the chosen must be trained as early as possible, and while one is indeed the right age, the others' time of power inheritance has come and gone.'_

'…_and that's what we blame Godric for?'_

'_That is exactly what we blame Godric for. Now, because of this, there are several options from these representative Heirs, and as their Leader and true Heir, you must select one of several paths, none of which are easy. It is also your job, apart from this, to train the Order of the Dragon, and these Heirs, yourself, and this is not currently possible, not even within your trunk.'_

_Harry was aware of the time slowly passing around him, and he was aware he didn't have much choice in the matter._

'_And they need to be trained by me? Myself?'_

'_Basically, yes. Otherwise, when the time comes, the Prophecy will not correctly come to pass. And that would be a most disastrous thing for the future of the Wizarding World.'_

'_You're not making this any easier.'_

'_I know.'_

_Silence._

'_What are my options?'_

'_The first is to do something similar to what your friends Hermione did…to travel back several months in time, into your old body, so that your friends would receive their inheritance on your birthday. However, this would still take a month of two to fully develop in them at this time, for some unusual reason. However, this would also help you establish yourself as Heir of Slytherin in the eyes of the public, instead of the Heir of Gryffindor, despite that you are, another would represent that, and true Heritages would be revealed later._

'_The second is less extreme, but I must say it is not the best idea. What this is, is that that you would share your power amongst them, they would be fairly strong, a lot less stronger than Albus and Tom, about half of their power weaker, but still strong for any Wizard or Witch. You would stay in this time, but it would be too inconvenient to train so many people in so short a time. You would of course still be strong, but not nearly as strong as before - I would still say a very high level however, so that would not be too big a concern however, unless you did something drastic.'_

'_They've trained themselves…' Harry started._

'_No offence, Harry, but despite some being fit, and one being 'swotted up', they could not last a minute in a Battle against a Death Eater. I don't mean to offend their skills, but they need to train properly. And in Muggle fighting as well. This is no joke now, this is War. You must take every advantage.'_

'_What's the final option?'_

'_The final option is that you would go to the beginning of July, into your old body. From there you would contact the necessary people and would sort out training, admittedly away from the Order's watchful eye and under the watchful eye of yourself. You already know what they need to be taught. And once you gain access to your trunk once again and your powers, you shall be able to develop yourself further. I believe that you have not studied Occlumency (sorry if I've said otherwise before), and that shall take up to a year to fully complete, before you could even begin to call yourself a proper Occlumens.'_

'_What would my powers be like from my birthday? And the others?'_

'_When your birthday would arrive, you would be more powerful than Albus Dumbledore, the thought-to-be strongest wizard in the world, by a good amount. Not a chip on your old amount of course, but you would never have used such power in a lifetime, and you would have all the power you would need. Your friends would be about as strong as Tom, who is less powerful than Albus by a minimal amount. It would then be your choice of what you release to the public.'_

'_And I have no other choice?'_

'_Of course. If you choose none, I can guarantee that you would survive…your friends and all those you care about would be murdered however. You would slowly go mad in despair, and eventually kill yourself. I would therefore recommend one of the first three.'_

_That was clearly obvious to Harry._

'_I would choose the last…when would I be going?'_

'_About now…however, and this is very important, be very careful of what you decide to choose again. The enemy surprised is the enemy who quicker underestimates his opponents. By the way, myself and Godric shall remember this…make sure you make the most of it.'_

'_Wait!'_

'_Yes?'_

'_Well, I'll be bored at the hell-hole of Privet Drive…would you guys talk to me there? It's better than just doing nothing really…'_

'_We would be delighted. Oh, and just so you should know, you'll be scrawny again, so you better get in shape.'_

_And before Harry could think another this, his world went black for a second, before he opened his eyes once more, and found himself sitting quietly in the car of one, Vernon Dursley._

12345678901234567890

Harry blinked rapidly and pinched himself sharply to make sure that this abrupt change of events in his life was not a dream.

Ten seconds later, which a red, sore and currently bruising arm, he started mutter swear words about Godric under his breath.

'_I have to live through all this again…just great…great, great, great.'_

'_**And you wondered why I call him a dunderhead.'**_

'_**Hey, I'm offended by that!'**_

'_**It's a well deserved title, you clumsy Gryffindor bas-'**_

'_Ok guys, just calm it down a bit…and this might actually give us a better advantage now…we done some things wrong the first time around.'_

'_**And would you include Miss Weasley in that? You seem to have, recently, begun seeing her as a friend rather than a girlfriend, despite…'**_

'_It's just…I don't want anyone to get targeted because of me. If she died, Mrs Weasley…all the Weasleys, would be heart-broken…I need to think about that…actually, just thinking of thinking, what the bloody hell am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to contact all these people and train them, a, without their magic being traced, and b, without being caught. And where am I even going to take all these people! The moon!'_

'_**No need to become sarcastic…you sound too much like Salazar when you say that.'**_

'_**I never knew you could be so complimenting Godric, I think I'm blushing here.'**_

'_**Stop-'**_

'_Breathe…deep breaths everyone. Could you help me answer the question?'_

There was silence as the two bickering men put on their thinking caps…this was a rare occurrence, for both men to actually work on something together, and Harry was afraid to disturb it.

'**_How far are you from this Diagon Alley right now, Harry?'_** Salazar asked suddenly.

Harry looked out of the window, finding himself in the busy city of London itself. They drove this way home every year in the car, and although he had never been in it, bar the Alley, knew his way around the area.

'_Well, whenever Uncle Vernon takes the left, it's just down the road on the right…why?'_

'**_Tell your Uncle to pull over…'_** Godric said, catching on surprisingly fast.

Harry shrugged mentally, having no idea what the point of this was, and looked up, catching his Uncle glancing at him wearily in the mirror.

Moody's threat was apparently scaring the man more than he let on, even if Harry hadn't realised before.

"Uncle Vernon?" Harry asked.

"What, boy?" He asked gruffly, his eyes now straight ahead of him.

"Well, I have to go and get some books for an assignment for the holidays, and since I couldn't get them later, I was wondering if you could just drop me off here?"

Uncle Vernon was silent.

"If not, I could always get my friends to bring them over for me…they could even stay for a bit of lunch…"

Aunt Petunia paled drastically, Dudley whimpered and Uncle Vernon pushed his foot down on the break pedal so suddenly that everyone in the car jerked forward, and suddenly pulled over in front of the book store beside the Leaky Cauldron (although unaware of it).

"Fine boy, but I'm not waiting long for you."

"Actually, you can just go on ahead, Uncle Vernon. I'll get a bus back."

Uncle Vernon didn't question who was going to take his trunk up to his room for him as per usual, although he would probably be afraid for him to do it, incase Moody thought he was mistreating Harry (said trunk was shrunken thanks to Godric and Salazar, along with Hedwig's cage, as Hedwig was flying, and would find him no doubt whenever he arrived somewhere permanent.) Thankfully, it was also feather-light and stashed deeply inside his oversized pockets.

Harry was all but shoved out of the car by Dudley before Uncle Vernon pulled away, his car bursting down the road as fast as it could.

"Fat git." He muttered, double checking that he had everything before glancing around.

Now what did he do?

'_Ok, what do I do next?'_

'**_You go into Diagon Alley, you won't need a disguise they shall suddenly feel the need to rush into shops, and not recognise you or question you…a very destined thing I must say.'_** Salazar said slyly, and Harry could imagine the smirk on the man's face.

This was obviously the man's idea, and he had to say, this insane plan (and when he said insane he meant totally insane, wacky and all the words ever used to describe insane) was looking like it could actually work.

And to do this, he had to pretty much go into hiding with 'his army'.

And above all of that, avoid his Grandfather.

He loved the man, but apparently, this was for the best. A little competition would do no harm, after all. And who was he to argue with Fate and Destiny?

Someone who didn't want their life to be messed up by Godric 'dunderhead' Gryffindor again, that's who he was.

He stepped into the Leaky Cauldron, wincing slightly at the creaky door, and stepped inside, finding it very unusual to be ignored by the swarms of people who usually adored/hated him.

It was a good feeling to be ignored for once.

Grinning cheerfully, he near skipped towards the back door and into the alleyway, where he saw the gateway just closing, and managed to run through before it shut completely.

The Boy-Who-Was-Crushed didn't seem to work for him.

He quickly made his way past the numerous magical shops, all of which still amazed him even after five years in the magical world, and managed to restrain himself from going into any of the shops before pausing.

'_Um, what am I supposed to do now?'_

'**_Go into Gringotts, and ask to speak to Reksatop, the Head of Inheritances. He was the goblin who signed your previous bank statement. You still were yet to receive a list of properties…I think out of that and Black's, you should be able to find something to suit your needs. Preferably something in another country.'_**

'_**I think that was obvious, Gryffindork.'**_

'_**Go back to your snake pit, you greasy git.'**_

'_Do you two always do this? Because it's driving me crazy…one more insult and you'll regret it…well, until I'm bored anyways.'  
__

* * *

_

Harry stared at the roll of parchment on the desk in shock at the properties the Potter and Black families owned, as well as businesses (Muggle and Magical) they had invested in, and so forth.

"I own five percent of the Firebolt company? One percent of Microsoft! Five percent of Harley Davidson! And these properties…a villa in Florida, a small castle in Ireland, a cottage in the Scottish Highlands, a penthouse in Los Angeles, a large flat in New York, and other different properties in places I haven't even _heard_ of."

Reksatop looked at him with a wicked goblin grin which honestly scared Harry senseless.

"You also mentioned something about opening a new vault?"

Harry nodded.

"I'd like to open the vault under the name James Granger. I would like to move 5 million galleons from my vault into this vault. I'd also like to make sure that no-one finds out of this specific vault, or what this money is used for."

Reksatop smiled again (he was very slowly starting to see past his fear of the goblin's happy look), obvious aware of how much this would earn him in commission, and held out a document to Harry, which he filled in before grinning.

* * *

_Friday June 30th, 1995 _(incase anyone was wondering) 

Harry arrived outside the large house, grinning despite the fact he was not used to the extreme heat now beating down on his currently unfit body and making him sweat so much his t-shirt was already soaked through.

Breathing in deeply, whether to prepare himself or to calm himself he wasn't really sure, and looked to the right of the building, where the ocean lay mockingly in front of him, making him nearly want to run down and jump in himself.

However, he restrained himself and walked towards the front door, thankful that there was already Fidelius and Unplottable spells on this house - it would have taken a lot of work to put them up himself.

The door was some type of wood he couldn't identify at first look, and he pushed it open, causing the door to fall cleanly backwards, off of the hinges, and clunk onto the floor, causing a layer of dust to rise up, as well as causing him to cough violently.

"I think I need to get a duster or two for this place…it's a little dusty."

* * *

There we go, my first chapter…not bad if I do say so myself. 

Reviews are welcomed, flames contributed to a bonfire to celebrate end of exams in a couple of days.


	2. Davy, deals, meetings and portkeys

Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters, places (unless they are of my own creation and I shall add notes in for that later), songs etc. Most of this belongs to JK bows.

Unfortunately, Dobby shall not be appearing in this part of the series (for HarrySlytherinson who said about Dobby) - but he shall make appearances later.

Thanks for your reviews so far! Haven't missed a single one :D.

* * *

_Monday, 4th July, 1995_

Harry James Potter stood once again in Diagon Alley, this time dressed in new, casual Muggle clothes from a London city centre shopping spree (where he was helped by several very nice assistants who he generously tipped afterwards), now with new sunglasses perched on the bridge of his nose, to protect his eyes from the blinding sun and to hide his piercing emerald eyes from public view, and a ski-cap on his head, covering his noticeable raven hair and even more noticeable scar.

He made his way through the bustling crowds, having decided to try his luck of self-survival (meaning without Godric and Salazar's constant snide comments at each other while they helped him- how they were best friends he would never know), and dodged several lurking members of the Order of the Phoenix (including a very obvious Tonks who tripped over her own two feet while trying to catch a glimpse of him) before making his way to the end of the Alley (he had already withdrawn a large amount of money from Gringotts the last time he was there, and had no need to go back - he had also been given a leather Muggle wallet, with a secret compartment where he could withdraw galleon from his vault, the inside part for Muggle money. He was too young for credit cards anyway).

The first shop, at the end of the Alley, was 'Trevor's Timepieces', a relatively new shop he had never heard of before, and stepped inside, immediately being hit with a refreshing burst of cool air and the sight of a fresh coat of paint on the walls, along with the numerous clocks and timepieces inside glass compartments.

He started to have a look around, before finding a simple stainless steel watch with a dark blue face and stainless steel rim (he dared no get silver incase he came into contact with Remus, who he decided he should get in contact with soon), and a diamond simply, yet elegantly, placed for the 12 point. The shining steel hands moved smoothly, and if one listened closely enough, could hear the soft ticking of the seconds hand.

* * *

He left the store with said watch, with a few simple charms to make the battery run longer, to make it unbreakable and able to withstand the elements, before moving to the shop next door, Ollivander's. 

The small bell echoed rather loudly into the dusty shop, the feeling of ancient magics rushing over him as he stepped inside, and he sat down on the chair near the counter, where parents usually waited while their children found their wands.

Soon enough, Ollivander stepped out from the rows of his beloved wands (his silver, moon-like still unreadable and mysterious), and the man didn't look surprised to see him there.

"Mr Potter. Holly, 11 inches, phoenix feather, supple. Still keeping it well?"

"Of course, sir. I just came in about a couple of things. I was wondering if Neville Longbottom has been in here yet - to purchase a new wand?"

Ollivander shook his head slightly.

"He has not been in yet, Mr Potter. May I ask why?"

"Well, it's my fault that his old wand was broken, and I was wondering if, when he comes in, if you could tell him that it's already been paid for?"

Harry set several galleons on the counter, and Ollivander looked at him closely before nodding.

"Is that all you would like?"

"No…I was wondering if you sold any wand holsters?"

"While I do possess some, I must admit that they are not the best that can be bought in the area. Not that I would encourage you, but there is a store on the outskirts of Diagon Alley, just beside the entrance of Knockturn Alley, Fletcher's Duelling and War Supplies, which should be able to help you more than I could."

Harry noted the name of the store and nodded.

"Thanks for your help."

Harry turned to leave before pausing.

"By the way, you didn't see me."

* * *

After looking the junk store (in which he found nothing of interest), he walked down the Alley towards Madam Malkin's, where he bought several light everyday robes, several thicker winter robes, a new midnight-blue dress robe with a silver Dragon around the left shoulder and several other items, before walking up yet again to the area Gringotts was located, looking opposite the white marble building, towards the entrance of Knockturn Alley, and found Fletcher's Duelling and War Supplies situated in the corner just as Ollivander had said. 

Wondering idly if the owner was related to Mundungus Fletcher (lovingly known as 'Dung' by the Order of the Phoenix), he once again dodged the building morning crowds and entered into the surprisingly bright shop.

All around the white walls lay weapons of all kinds, sitting inside glass display units, as well as models of Battle robes and Dragon-Hide showing up outside the window.

It seemed that, even though he had entered quietly, the shop owner had heard him, and a man in his late forties came out, his brown hair slowly submitting to the growing bald patch on his head. He had light stubble growing on his face, and his piercing blue eyes looked seemingly straight through Harry's glasses and into straight into his eyes, into his soul.

"So, I see that Harry Potter has finally come to see what I have to offer." The man asked in amusement, as Harry gave up on his charade and removed his hat and glasses, replacing them with his new green rimmed glasses (sacrificing power had also meant sacrificing his perfect eyesight, but he wasn't too bothered about it).

"How did you know it was me?" Harry asked cautiously.

"Not many young people can see this shop, let alone enter it. Only those who intend to use these for good purposes can see it, and only those who have a true need for them can enter. It keeps Death Eaters and nosy kids out in swarms." He added thoughtfully, and Harry was already starting to like the man, despite having just met him.

The man noticed Harry looking at him, and he seemed to remember something before walking forward, offering his hand to Harry, who took it immediately.

"How rude of me. David Fletcher, but everyone calls my Davy."

"Harry Potter…everyone calls me…well, they just call me Harry."

Davy laughed, his barking laughter reminding him of Sirius.

"So, what are you looking for? As you can see, I've got a whole range of things. The 'War' in the title brings it justice on so many levels."

Harry suddenly grinned, chuckling at the joke as well.

"Davy, I think I'm about to make you the deal of a lifetime."

* * *

Around half-an-hour later, Harry pushed his way into the bustling Leaky Cauldron. 

"I reserved a private room for a few friends and myself. The name's James Granger." Harry asked Tom, who he had just found.

Tom thought for a moment and nodded.

"If you go up the stairs there and turn left, it will be the first door on your left - room A."

Harry nodded at the man in thanks before he climbed the creaky steps, taking the first left and quickly, with his long strides, coming to room A, which one would assume empty from the lack of noise from inside.

Thankfully, he was aware of the silencing charms in place on these rooms, or he would have been worried.

Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open and found a group of curious DA member sitting beside several other confused students, several of who, namely Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott, who were sitting talking amongst themselves quietly.

Nobody took much notice of him, and instead of drawing attention to himself, he walked amongst several of the standing members, who included Ron and Hermione, the first of who was clearly enjoying the food table, and the second who was obviously looking out for him amongst the mingling crowd, before turning back to Ron.

"I wonder why he called us all here." Hermione wondered aloud.

"'aybe 'e 'anted us 'o 'alk a'out ne't 'ears DA." Ron suggested with a mouthful of cheese sandwich.

Hermione looked at him in obvious disgust.

Ron rolled his eyes and finished chewing before repeating himself.

"Maybe he wanted to talk about next year's DA." Ron said again. "I mean, he invited everybody, and a few other people, so maybe he wants to add more people. Although why he wanted this meeting kept a secret is beyond me…and why he wanted us to bring packed trunks and belongings makes me think we're going somewhere."

"But the question is, where is he taking us all? To train us? But even if he could, what about underage magic? Everyone in here bar your brothers, Angelina, Alicia and Katie are underage."

Ron simply shrugged.

"I dunno. Although how he's going to get through all the guards around his house is definitely something I would want to know. Who knows, maybe he trained in his sleep or something." Ron joked.

Well, who said Ron didn't have some Divination ability in him?

"Well, since I didn't go back to my house, it was easy enough to get here. I'm surprised they didn't know I wasn't there." Harry voiced calmly, and Hermione spun around, just after Harry had taken off his sunglasses and replaced them with his own glasses, and ripped the hat from his head, and she immediately pulled him into a bone-crunching hug that made Hagrid's seem like as gentle as a feather.

"Oh Harry, it's so good to see you're alright! I was so worried about you. What do you mean you didn't go back to your house? Why did you tell us to come here with our trunk? Why…?"

"I'll explain everything in a minute, Hermione. It's good to see you too…but if you could let me breathe it would help."

Blushing slightly, but still smiling, she let him go, and he took several deep breaths before being pulled into a manly hug by Ron.

"Nice to see you too, mate." Harry joked after the short hug, to which Ron stuck out his tongue childishly and laughed.

Hermione rolled her eyes at the gruff manly hug and childish display.

"But seriously Harry, why have you got everyone here? And others as well…"

"The others here are people I want to bring in. This is a partially a DA, however, I want to bring them in. They would only be able to read the letter I sent them if their loyalties were in the right place, and if they were willing to join."

'**_And because you had us cross-referencing their fates and destinies for you.'_** Salazar added.

Harry held back a retort, and instead took to shuffling his friends towards the table, to which others followed, many greeting him as he walked past.

Finally, whenever they were all seated at the table, silent in anticipation, Harry started to speak, his voice gentle.

"Congratulations to you all for being chosen from both the DA, and from other places, into the Order of the Dragon."

There were murmurs around the table, but Harry, in a very Albus way, put his hands up.

"However, we are not connected to the Order of the Phoenix, nor are we connected to the Ministry. We are fighters for the Light side, but we are people who strive to take action, instead of waiting until we hear news of attack to fight. We are Warriors, protectors of the innocent and defenders of the weak. The Ministry may think we are too young to be in this War, our parents and relatives may think we are too young to be in this War, but we are already in it, whether they like it or not.

"We have to learn to be able to defend no only ourselves, but those we care for," He glanced at his friends, "those who we barely know," he glanced at others around the table, "and complete strangers."

He slowly projected his voice.

"We have to be willing to fight Death Eaters who torture and kill Muggles and Wizards alike for fun. We have to be willing to fight wild beasts that may be sent out to harm us. We have to be willing to protect our homes, and our school, that is a home for many people. We have to be willing to protect everything that represents any good in this world from Voldemort, who prospers in killing, torturing and murdering those who we love! Are you willing to be able to do this? Are you willing to fight, with the risk of your lives?

"Are you willing to put everything on the line for not only our generation, but for future generations; where children can play freely without fear, where teenagers won't have to worry about house boundaries, where adults don't have to worry about drawing attention to what they truly believe in, for fear of their and their families lives. Are you willing? Are you willing? Are you willing?"

He looked around the table of enthralled people, and repeated himself again, softly.

"Are you willing?"

Ron broke the silence and stood up.

"I'm willing to fight. My family are out there sacrificing their lives for me…if I can help that, then I'm willing. I'm willing to fight to protect my family and friends, and everything I love. I'm willing, mate."

Hermione stood up next.

"I am willing. I'm willing to give up my life to protect my family and friends, those I truly care about. To protect everything I've ever learnt, and known as good in this world. To protect people I've perhaps only just walked past in the street, but to protect all those I can. I'm willing, Harry."

Following this, Ginny stood up, followed by Fred and George, who each in turn (and together in the twins' case) said "I'm willing."

Slowly, more and more people stood up, all saying "I'm willing." And after a minute, the whole room was standing up.

Harry looked around, a warm feeling in his soul as he surveyed them all.

"You're all willing to fight, and to train. It won't be easy. You'll wake up every morning and train until you sweat. You will shed blood, sweat and tears. You will fall. You will break down. You will beg for no more. But you will heal. You will get back up again. You will get a better grip of your emotions. You will be grateful.

"After an hour of training you'll dislike me. After a day of training, you'll hate me. After a week of training you'll detest me. After a month of training you'll loath me with all your being. But whenever you are defending those you love in desperation, you will think that I was the best damn thing that ever happened to you."

Harry looked around the now silent room.

"Now, get into groups of six, grab your trunks and all take a hold of the deflated beech balls. You have a minute before those go off, so you better hurry."

There was an instant rush.

Harry calmly walked over and took a hold on one with Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna and Neville, and counted down the seconds on his watch.

"That was an amazing speech, Harry." Ginny commented.

"Bloody brilliant!"

"I've never heard you talk like that before." Hermione added thoughtfully. Harry noticed this and already saw the wheels turning in her head.

That was never good.

"5...4...3...2...1...activate."

And then, silently, the mass of young people disappeared, leaving the appropriate fee on the desk, and no trace of where the Portkeys had taken the new Order of the Dragon.

* * *

Another chapter! On a roll here, lol. 

Any reviews, please feel free to leave them.


	3. Richard, Larson and too long runs

Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters, places (unless they are of my own creation and I shall add notes in for that later), songs etc. Most of this belongs to JK bows. 

Once again, thanks for your reviews :D

* * *

_Tuesday 5th July_

The house sat beside the soft, rolling shores of Maracaibo, Venezuela, which was currently, as all nearby countries were, experiencing a tropical heat wave. No person could say that they wanted to go from any air-conditioning they may have had, even into the ocean to cool down, and wanted nothing more than to lie in bed for the whole day.

This was not to be in Black Manor however, because, at 5 o'clock, Harry and his two blue robed companions (whose hoods never fell from place) marched into one unit's male dorm at a time, and within seconds, cries rang out as cold water splashed down on the occupants on the beds.

"Get ready. Breakfast will be served in ten minutes." Harry called out with a wicked grin, laughing at the disgruntled looks on the boys' faces as he moved next door into the girl's dorms.

The first thing to understand about the Order was that Harry had pre-planned the group into three units, battalions if it was better understood; Thestral, Griffin and Unicorn.

There were to be no house boundaries, however, he had placed friends with each other if he could, because they would be able to work of each other more. However, his true aim was to rip away any barriers, and make each member of the unit know every other member of the unit, and slowly, over the two months, every other member of the Order.

In the Thestral Unit, Harry had placed Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, George, Seamus Finnegan, Dean Thomas, Hannah Abbott, Jack Sloper, Andrew Kirke, Michael Corner, Zacharias Smith and Blaise Zabini.

It was true, if the way he had planned things came to pass, this would be a male-dominated group, however, these were the best fighters of the group, and several of the other best fighters he had assigned to one of the other units, to help protect those at the back.

The Thestral Unit, he considered, was his front-line of attack.

In the Griffin Unit, Harry had placed Neville, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Ernie Macmillan, Anthony Goldstein, Colin and Dennis Creevey, Padma Patil, Lisa Turpin, Daphne Greengrass, Angelina Johnston and Alicia Spinnet.

He considered the Griffin Unit as the second line of attack, and fresh duellers - he had had a hard time choosing those for the Thestral Unit, and even now, in Neville for example, he found some of his best duellers, who just seemed better suited in being able to both fight and helping to defend, a kind of mid-field position. Neville had been slowly gaining confidence, and had thanked Harry immensely for paying for his wand (10 inches, mahogany, dragon heartstring). Harry had shrugged it off, saying it was his fault for it breaking anyway.

Finally, there was the Unicorn Unit, in which he had placed, Luna, Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, Susan Bones, Mandy Brocklehurst, Katie Bell, Lee Jordan, Theodore Nott, Terry Boot, Natalie McDonald and Graham Pritchard.

Lastly, the Unicorn Unit consisted of those who he believed were better defenders than offenders, and would help heal (he would teach that as a separate subject for the members of the Order) people who had fallen in Battle, a well as protecting base if it was there. They were also swift offenders, however, and he would never once believe they would falter once trained.

_**1234567890**_

As the Units slowly emerged from their sudden awakening and cold shower (which few were grateful for considering the heat), it was not heartening to find unbuttered toast and porridge without sugar present on it sitting on the one, long table.

Harry was happily eating his toast, which was better than anything he had ever gotten at the Dursleys, and grinned at Hermione, who sat tiredly next to him and picked up her schedule, which automatically changed to fit her Unit's schedule for the day.

_05:00 -Wake-up_

_05:00 - 05:30 -Preparation for day/breakfast_

_05:30 - 07:30 - Fitness and survival_

_07:30 - 07:45 -Break_

_07:45 - 09:45 -Weapons training_

_09:45 - 11:45-Duelling/Battle/War Magic_

_11:45 - 13:45 - Wandless Combat_

_13:45 - 14:30 - Lunch_

_14:30 - 15:30- Army discussion_

_15:30 - 16:30- Unit discussion_

_16:30 - 17:30-Weapons training_

_17:30 - 18:30- Dinner_

_18:30 - 19:00 - Free-time_

_19:00 - 19:30 - Weapons training_

_19:30 - 20:00- Duelling/Battle/War Magic_

_20:00 - 20:30 - Wandless Combat_

_20:30 - 21:00 - Supper/Free-time_

_21:00 - 21:30 - Preparation for bed/Free-time_

_21:30 - Lights out_

She gaped at him.

"How on _earth_ are you going to teach all these classes! How do you even know all this stuff!"

Harry grinned mysteriously.

"Well, I'm going to be helped by my friends, Richard (Godric) and Larson (Salazar) - trust me, they are firmly on our side -" he interrupted he opening her mouth. "We're taking a unit each, but we do take some things together, and trust me, you'll be exhausted…they have high standards."

'_**Of course we do. That's why our school is the finest in Europe.'**_

'_**You know, for once, Salazar, I think we actually may agree on something.'**_

'_Guys, small steps at a time, small steps. That's one giant leap there.'_ Harry laughed to himself, rolling his eyes as the two started to bicker again, to disprove such an 'awful thing', and lifted another piece of toast.

He glanced up and caught Ron looking at him with a desperate look on his face.

"This is bad enough for breakfast, mate, but _please_ don't tell me it's going to be like this for lunch and dinner."

Ron looked so desperate that Harry promised him the dinner of his choice (for everyone, of course) that night.

Ron, delighted, chose a Sunday roast, bar the fact that it was a Tuesday, and clapped Harry soundly on the back.

Harry laughed at his enthusiasm and glanced at his watch, seeing the time as twenty-five past five, and jumped up, clapping his hands to bring everyone's attention to him.

"Ok, Fitness and Survival starts in a minute. Make sure, despite what Larson may say to see what you do, stretch, listen, and don't overexert yourself today. You'll see why you had such a light breakfast later. Come on, get up."

Harry had decided to join in the class, seeing as he had nothing to teach at the time, and was looking forward to seeing how everyone would cope with both the physical workout of the course, and the mental workout that truly was Salazar Slytherin.

_**1234567890**_

The group of soon-to-be soldiers glanced at each other, absolutely petrified.

'Larson' had suddenly appeared, Battle robes billowing rather impressively and in a way that would make Snape jealous, his strict voice barking orders for everyone to be quiet and stand in a straight line.

"You, boy, stand up straighter. You, don't slouch. You, tie your shoelaces properly, you're not five anymore, are you? Tuck in that t-shirt. Tie up that hair." This was in a series of five seconds, and had covered everyone who was not 'appropriately ready' for Fitness and Survival.

Surviving with Salazar was a completely different task.

"To begin with, we will take it easy."

There was a collective sigh of relief.

"You will jog twice around this property's grounds, then come back and do fifty press-ups, fifty sit-ups, fifty star-jumps, fifty crunches and the likes. You shall then jog down to the ocean, and shall have to swim five hundred metres out before swimming back, jogging up, and then taking out assault course."

He nodded to the Army-like assault course.

"This shall only be done once today."

The teens all gulped.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" He barked, and immediately, they all set out at a light jog.

_**1234567890**_

An hour and a half later, Harry ran from the assault course, feeling both refreshed and exhausted, his t-shirt covered in enough sweat that he was sure he would have to wring it out to get all the sweat out, and, summoning a bottle of water, emptied the contents before nearly collapsing, but managing to remain standing, so as not to become stiff later.

It was a good half hour before all the others had finished, some having collapsed before reaching the ocean (this was Natalie and Richard, who were both third-years and clearly unused to this type of physical strain), others having collapsed in-between this point and the start of the assault course, where amazingly, Ron had managed to get to before his legs gave way underneath him.

In the heat, it was even more amazing, and everyone, he was proud to say, had done amazingly well.

It took a good fifteen minutes to awaken and assemble the others, by which time, it was time to move on to their next classes.

There was a groan of disbelief.

"Well, I did say you would hate me." Harry said cheerfully, before jogging over to a large, open area at the other side of the building, the Thestral Unit slowly trudging after him before, finally, coming to a halt.

There was a large crate and twelve targets set up, one for himself and one for each of the Unit.

"Welcome to Weapons training. Basically, this is where you will learn to use some of the most delicate and most dangerous weapons that can be offered in the world today; and over the next two months, I shall be teaching you to use many of these. Today, and for the next week, we shall be learning to handle, assemble and accurately shoot a silenced pistol, and a lovely little thing called a machine gun."

He muttered in Latin and flicked his wand, causing an HK5SD to fly over. It was a small, silenced, reliable machine gun with good accuracy at both long and short distances, and was light as a feather.

"This is an HK5SD, one of the hardest to find and best machine guns in the world today, used by the British SAS and the American Delta Force. They are light, durable, and have a great accuracy range from both point-blank and long distances. Hopefully, this week, you will, over these two lessons a day, come to handle this with some type of mastery. We will probably cover it again later in the summer, so don't worry too much if you don't get it right away."

He held it up in the right way, explaining how to hold and aim before turning and firing at the target to his right, holding it steady before, a few seconds later, the short clip of blanks was done.

"And that's how it's done." Harry grinned, and they all looked in amazement at the shots, all in the bulls-eye.

"Of course, those are only blanks, and short clips, but by the end, they'll be real bullets, and the clips will be so long, you will barely have to reload at all. They'll be charmed to be rolled up and out of the way of course. Great thing about magic with Muggle technology."

He ignored the gaping looks and then summoned a pistol, a Mark23SD.

"This is a Mark23SD, a silenced pistol used by the US Navy Seals. Again, it is light, durable, and has a good accuracy and handling capabilities. Shooting a Death Eater in the back of the head is better than using an Unforgivable…" Harry added solemnly, however, he shook it off and turned once again to the freshly repaired target, and fired six bullets into the bulls-eye yet again.

"So…any questions?" Harry asked.

Everyone raised their hand.

"On anything to do with the guns?"

Slowly, everyone put their hands down sheepishly, and he rolled his eyes.

"Ok everyone, pick up an HK5SD first, and I'll show you how to assemble and reload it. Then we'll have some fun with the shooting…I've got a few good pictures of Umbridge and Fudge just itching to be shot."

_**1234567890**_

Afterwards, on their way to the War, Battle and Duelling Magic room, while deep in conversation with Hermione and Ron, Harry glanced up and caught sight of Ginny, who looked up at him at gave him a small smile before talking, once again, to Hannah Abbott.

He couldn't ignore the small voice in his head which shouted _'trying to kill another one then, Potter'_, which, no matter how much he tried to ignore it, slowly made him believe it.

It took another few minutes to weave a way through the many corridors of Black Manor (there were many…apparently the Black's weren't very creative in such a way as to name buildings), eventually coming to the large oak door, the golden handle of which Harry turned, revealing the room to them all.

It was around a quarter the size of the Great Hall in Hogwarts, with grey stone walls and magically lit beacons, helping light the room at night and on long dark days, along with the natural light from the many large windows along with back of the room.

A large Duelling platform stood in the centre of the room, wider and longer than most normal ones…this was obvious a professional one.

After the last person shuffled in, Harry took a running jump and landed with feline grace on it, earning several hoots of applause.

He grinned and bowed cheekily before turning serious once more.

"Ok, to start, we are going to start with some basic teleportation. It is a form of apparation, however, it is a type that cannot be tracked by the Ministry. It allows you to move to a place that you can see, however, like apparation, you have to concentrate. It takes a lot of time to get used to, and is known as an obscure art, because it has not been taught to anyone outside the room for many years."

He noticed Hermione nodding out of the corner of his eye.

"The reason not many people know how to do this is because, simply, many cannot find a proper teacher. There are few people in Britain who can do such a thing, bar, I would say, the Headmaster and Voldemort."

There were many winces, and Harry rolled his eyes.

He would deal with _that_ problem later.

"Thankfully, although it takes concentration and getting used to, it can be easily learnt, mostly because you are all around the age of magical maturation, and can get used to the flow of magic it requires not only to do it once, but repeatedly, most especially during Duelling and Battling your opponents. Any questions?"

Seamus raised his hand and Harry nodded towards him.

"Yeah, I was wondering if these would work through anti-apparation wards. Like those around school?"

Harry smiled.

"Good question. Thankfully, these do work. It is kind of like house-elf magic. They can pop up anywhere. That is because you are not trying to force your way in or out. You are simply trying to move about inside, to somewhere in your site. All similar wards are like that."

Seamus grinned.

"So we can use it if we're late to class?"

Harry's eyes twinkled, immediately answered said question.

"Anyway, we're going to start on teleportation - it should take, at the most, an hour to get used to. It's a lot easier than apparation, so Fred, George, you two should be able to do it immediately. After that, if you could help everyone else out."

Fred and George gave him identical mock salutes, which he returned cheekily.

"Now, if everyone will line up, I'll show you how to do this.

_**1234567890**_

Wandless Combat was the last class before lunch (which Ron happily expressed, at the top of his voice, to anyone who would listen), and they moved down a floor, the room exactly under the 'DWB' room as it had been shortened to.

It was near identical to the DWB room, bar the fact that there was no duelling platform, instead, the large floor covered with a series of green mats.

"Take off your shoes everyone, please, and take a couple of slow warm-up laps. Then I want you to stretch like I showed you earlier. Following this, I'm going to start teaching you a mix of several martial arts, plus a little bit of kickboxing as well."

After a series of loud groans at the thought of more running, especially in the sweltering heat (and Harry had barred and taken off all the cooling spells Fred and George had been dealing out, in return for chocolate and sweets), they started to jog, Harry taking the time to talk to Salazar and Godric in his head as he himself stretched.

'_How are you guys doing with your Units?'_

'_**The Griffin Unit are catching on pretty fast, especially this Longbottom boy. Rather shy though.'**_

'_**The Unicorn Unit are complete amateurs at even basic targeting skills! What does our school teach you all these days!'**_

'_Good to hear guys…and last year…their last year…we had to learn Defence ourselves. There isn't much outdoors work, like accuracy, and we haven't really had a good teacher in Defence, bar Remus Lupin…everyone's coming back from their jog, so I'll speak to you both at our lesson later.'_

'_**We'll see you then, Harry.'**_

'**_Good luck with your pack of Gryffindorks…and others.'_** Salazar added before they both left his mind, leaving Harry smirking slightly.

He really _would_ have been a good Slytherin.

_**1234567890**_

After a lunch of sausage and mashed potato (with baked beans if one chose the option), it was time for Army discussion, which basically, was getting to know everyone else in the group.

Harry started that by getting a football he had bought, and arranging everyone into a circle.

"Ok, basically, I throw this to someone, and they say their name, age, what year they're about to go into, house, where they are from and one interesting fact about themselves. Then they pass it on."

He looked around to make sure everyone understood, before starting off.

"I'm Harry Potter, I'm 15, about to go into my sixth-year at Hogwarts. I'm a Gryffindor, and am originally from Godric's Hollow, born in St. Mungo's, although I'm now usually located in Surrey, as well as Hogwarts. One interesting thing about me is that I can survive a basilisk, and yet be petrified by a greasy bat."

There was a round of laughter, even a light-hearted smirk from the Slytherins present, and he threw it to Seamus Finnegan.

"I'm Seamus Finnegan, sixteen, about to go into my-sixth year. I'm a Gryffindor, and am from Country Cork, Ireland. Also, I met the Irish Quidditch Team last year."

He threw it to Susan Bones.

"I'm Susan Bones, sixteen, and coming sixth-year at Hogwarts. I'm a Hufflepuff and from Devon, England. One interesting thing about me is that I can lip-read."

Harry was rather impressed, and watched as the ball was thrown over to Graham Pritchard.

"I'm Graham Pritchard, thirteen, coming third-year and a Slytherin. I was born in France, but moved over whenever I was five, so I'm fluent in French. One interesting thing about me is that I caught Professor Snape dancing to ballet music and pirouetting last year."

There were several raised eyebrows, and cackles and hoots of laughter.

The ball was then thrown to Michael Corner.

"I'm Michael Corner, sixteen-years-old and going into my sixth year at Hogwarts (A/N - this is what JK has said apparently. I'm a Ravenclaw, and from Berkshire. One interesting thing about me, a good thing I think, is that I put up with Cho Chang for an age, and that although it is slightly exaggerated about my apparent running after her and whining, I have to say that she is a total bitch."

There were several claps and Michael grinned sheepishly. Ginny smiled imply at him in apology for that certain comment, and he nodded in acceptance at the unspoken apology.

This continued on for around twenty minutes before it had gone around everyone.

"Now, I would like everyone to pair up with someone of a different House, and if that's not possible, someone of the opposite gender."

Harry ended up paired with Susan Bones, who he smiled kindly at before continuing.

"Now, I want one person to stand in front of the other, and then fall back, and for their partner to catch them."

This was done rather successfully, and as people rotated around, it was easy to see that already small bonds of trust were being built.

After several other exercises to this effect, it was time for Unit discussion. Basically, this was similar to Army discussion, only in the three separate units.

**_1234567890_**

Harry took the Thestral Unit to their Common Room, which was beside their dorms and interlinked to the other Common Rooms through a series of dorms, so as to encourage inter-unit mixing, and Harry sat them all down in the replica of Gryffindor Common Room.

"Now, this is a more personal discussion, basically because, in Battle, you together will be working together, and will need to trust and be able to read each other to survive. So, to do this, I've got a little game that I think you'll all enjoy."

His smirk showed again.

"Does everyone know how to play Charades?"

Whenever several Purebloods shook his head, he began to explain.

"Ok, basically this is a game of no words, and you have to express yourself by actions and signals. There are several different categories the person, place or thing can be from; book titles, movie titles, play titles, song titles, TV shows or quotes or phrases, which can be shown by a variety of signals."

He demonstrated.

"You can also do a number of other signals. For example, to show how many words there are, hold up the number of fingers. Say if it was Harry Potter, you would put up two fingers."

Ron sniggered and Hermione sharply nudged him in the ribs, causing him to stop and glare at her.

She stared defiantly back and he eventually looked away, Hermione grinning in victory before turning her attention back to Harry.

"Then, to indicate, after that, what word you're going to try and act out or show, you would hold up fingers again. Say you were trying to demonstrate the first word, you would put on one finger and the likes.

"You can also indicate if someone is right, by touching your nose and pointing at the person, can indicate of the word is plural, what syllable you're working on and how many the word has, if it is past or present tense, you can act out what it sounds like, and show it by cupping your ear before, you can indicate how long the word, and you can indicate if a letter in the alphabet is high or low down…you can't use sign language, and you can't mouth it.

"You do this in two teams, so split into teams of seven, I'll join the one with six after this, and write out things for the other team to do, which can't be longer than seven words. So get into teams, get some scraps of parchment and quills and ink from the corner and make a start."

_**1234567890**_

Harry ended up with Ron, Hermione, Ginny, the Twins and Blaise Zabini, while the other team consisted or Seamus, Dean, Jack Sloper, Andrew Kirke, Michael Corner and Zacharias Smith, and they all huddled together.

"Ok, well, some Muggle ones would be good to start of with." Hermione began, quill at the ready, and Harry smiled.

"Let's have some fun."

_**1234567890**_

Jack was aimlessly waving his hands in the air, making no sense to anyone in his team as he tried to mime something.

Harry and Hermione were holding back hysterical laughter.

He apparently had no idea who Margaret Thatcher was.

Finally, the two-minute timer ran out and he was clearly frustrated.

"It was a hard one, Jack. You didn't do bad for someone who doesn't know who Margaret Thatcher is."

Those in his group who knew who Margaret Thatcher was were clearly trying to hold back their own laughter.

It was then Harry's turn to go, and he stuck his hand into the bowl of suggestions from the other team, finding, to his amusement, _'Professor Snape'_ written on it.

He stood at the front and started the timer with a flick of his wand before, rather suddenly, he began to pirouette (amazing well) on the spot, a smirk on his face.

"Merlin! Snape has possessed Harry! Rrrrruuuuuunnnnnnnnnnnnn!" Ron screamed girlishly and jumped behind his chair.

The others looked at Harry before bursting into laughter.

Harry joined in.

Thankfully, Hermione managed to control herself long enough to say "Professor Snape" before she burst into her own giggles, while trying not to laugh at a teacher, and failing rather spectacularly at it.

Harry's heart felt lighter than it had since Sirius' death.

_**1234567890**_

After this, it was scheduled for free-time, and Harry had all the units gathered inside the Thestral Unit's Common Room to explain the facilities that the Blacks had decided to add into their luxurious house.

"The Common Rooms are open to be used during free-time, and there are several board-games and necessities for things like Charades if you feel like playing. There is also a Wizarding radio, so you can get music and the likes, and there is enough butterbeer for two bottles each, which should do everyone.

"Further down the corridor, if you take the left after your dorms, there is a Games Room, with a pool table and the likes, and further down from there, a Movie Room, with a TV and DVD, with a large collection of DVD's. Outside, there is a Quidditch Pitch around the back, the balls of which are charmed to stay inside the stadium, and there is a broom shed filled with many different models for you to use.

"There is a small library downstairs, which I'll stock more as soon as I can, and of course, you are all free to practice your fighting, duelling and weapons, as long as you don't try and shoot each-other."

He glanced wearily at Fred and George, who looked faintly disappointed. They had been fairly amused by the guns - it must be from Mr Weasley, he decided.

"I'm going to be in my Office on the top floor, and I ask you don't come and get me. I'll be down in time for your lesson. See you all soon."

_**1234567890**_

Harry apparated upstairs (the apparation wards allowed him to pass) and found Salazar and Godric, in body form, waiting for him.

"Sorry I'm late guys, I had to explain about what everyone could do now. Make sure they didn't shoot each other."

He could have sworn he hard Salazar mutter something about foolish Gryffindors before he took a seat in his large leather chair, sitting behind his large mahogany desk.

His office was rather large, with several mahogany shelves against several walls, filled with many books. The floor was stone, which he was rather fond of, as were the walls, which were covered in pictures (all of which were replicas, incase something happened) of himself and his friends, all taken by Colin Creevey, and some of the Marauders, his mum and dad, and the likes.

It warmed his heart.

"Ok, so, shall we make a start?"

Salazar, obviously the more theoretical of the two, began to explain.

"Occlumency is a highly obscure branch of magic that few dare to delve into further than theoretical knowledge. It is, to put it simply, the shielding of your thoughts and emotions from outside interference. Of course, it is much more complicated that that, I would be surprised if you managed to build your first wall, your core wall, before the end of the month. I would expect you to be able to protect yourself, at the end of the summer, from attack long enough to look away and end the contact.

"However, if it is Voldemort, you will have to not only build several walls, but a special shield around the certain area of your link to him, so as to keep out his projection into your mind. This can unfortunately not do too much about visions and scar-aches, but will stop his interference, so you will know that the visions you see are true.

"Perhaps by Christmas would you be able to do this completely and without thought. The main point is practice. So, at random points of the day, I shall shoot Legilimens spells at you. It is invisible and can be done without incantation or wand, but to start, I shall use both, until you get used to it, then we develop to doing it without wand, and then without incantation. Any questions?"

Harry shook his head. He was sure he already knew more about Occlumency than he had from any lesson with Snape…from all his lessons actually.

Thankfully, in his library (which he was rather looking forward to getting back), he had read over several books on Occlumency, even if he had never attempted to practice or develop upon his knowledge.

"Now, I want you to imagine a place where you feel safe, somewhere deep inside your mind that only you can enter, and where you feel peaceful. What are you imagining?" Godric began, taking up his role.

Harry, obviously in a very relaxed state, spoke softly.

"I'm on the top of Gryffindor Tower, lying down."

"Now, what about scenery?"

He thought for a moment.

"It's sunset, with the sun's last rays hitting the clouds…and then it fades away, and a full moon appears in the darkness. There are loads of stars in the sky, which has gone clear. And Sirius is there…the constellation Canis Major."

"And what about around you?" Godric continued.

"There's the mountains, all capped with snow on just the tops, and the lake…Hagrid's Hut is lit up with a small light as well, and the forbidden forest is beside that, looking surprisingly peaceful…down from there is the Quidditch Pitch, and in the very distance, the station and Hogsmeade."

"Are there any senses present?"

"I can smell a soft forest smell, of the trees, which is calming, and can feel the magic of Hogwarts soothing me, like Fawkes singing. I can hear the soft rustling of the wind, blowing the trees and rippling the water of the Lake, and I can feel it softly blowing in my face, cooling me down and rushing through my hair…it makes me fell like I'm flying."

"Is there anything else?"

"I can, so softly in the distance, hear Fawkes singing…it's breathtaking and so peaceful overall…"

Godric left him several minutes to learn every fine detail before Harry opened his eyes again, a freedom in his eyes that seemed so much like his younger self that his friends would have believed him so.

"This is where you shall go to begin to build the Occlumency shields around your mind. Most people imagine their mind as a castle, fort or a mansion, and have many defences around it. This is basically what you shall do…I imagine you would choose Hogwarts as a base example, however, you should make it original so that no-one would know their way around it bar yourself. If it helps, draw out a map and keep it safe. If your shields fail, any memories you have stored in that certain area will be open to the invader for display. Any questions so far?"

"Yeah, why is it that I don't just do it from the Castle, instead of my 'inner-peace' place."

"It is simply because, at your most relaxed, peaceful and concentrated state, you can build your defences easier. Also, this is another reason why Occlumens can keep their tempers under check. Because they can enter this place at a moment's notice, and leave it as well. Anything else?"

After Harry shook his head no, Salazar and Godric both began to help explain how to weave a shield, like a net, before slowly making it stronger and harder, hopefully someday like diamond, and he shut his eyes and relaxed, managing to weave a small piece before he had to leave for dinner.

_**1234567890**_

After dinner and yet another free-time, spent with his friends playing a game of charades (this included Luna, Neville, Seamus, Dean, Parvati and Lavender), before it was time for yet another Weapons training, spent recapping with all the other units what they had learnt, the same pattern being followed by DWB and Wandless Combat before, after a light supper of butterbeer and a scone, and after getting ready for bed, everyone fell asleep, weary, tired, and unwilling to get up the following morning.

* * *

Yet another chapter - go me! Writer's block with this one is leaving, thankfully, after a year or so. Thanks again for all your reviews…I came and there were a whole bunch in my inbox! A lovely surprise, hence why I sped this up and have put it up early. Thanks everyone.

(Btw, I removed Mandy Brocklehurst so that the units would be even - you'll see why in the next chapter)


	4. The next day, a week and a birthday

Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters, places (unless they are of my own creation and I shall add notes in for that later), songs etc. Most of this belongs to JK bows.

Once again, thanks for your reviews :D

This fic will be continuing in here (someone asked if I would go back to the old story to post, but it just wouldn't make sense - I will, however, be rewriting some parts of HOTL later - reading back, it makes me squirm sometimes)

Also, I'm trying not to make Harry super-power - and the powers he will receive again on his birthday will make him very powerful, although a lot less than he had been last time around - also, he is human, and believe me, I know - and the emotions of the war will burden him - Occlumency can only do so much for the mind, and nothing for the burdened soul)

Once again, thanks, and on to the story :D.

* * *

_Wednesday 6th July, 1995_

Once again, at five o'clock the next morning, shouts were heard as cold water was poured over everyone (bar Hermione who had managed to get up just before and had crawled out of bed) to wake them up once again.

Harry had been slightly more creative this morning in waking them up, with the classic bucket of cold water over the head, and was proud of it.

And it was with a disheartening groan that the young warriors walked into the dining hall to find-

"Cereal and dry toast? Again? Are you bloody _kidding_ me?" Ron asked desperately, sinking into his chair, once again, beside Harry, who was also, once again, eating away.

"I'd rather you all not throwing up after your work-out. Larson is going to work you all as hard as possible…and then there's the rest of the day to think about. Plus, this is actually rather nice, you know."

Ron's head thunked on the table.

_**1234567890**_

"Now, you pull it back like so," Harry demonstrated, "and let go."

The arrow thudded in the centre circle of the large target 100 metres away, not too shabby from such a distance.

"And that, my friends, is what I know that you'll all be able to do."

He received several raised eyebrows for that comment.

He simply gave a crooked grin.

_**1234567890**_

DWB was definitely already showing to be more interesting than the previous day's class, where, after practicing teleporting for twenty minutes, Harry lined everyone against the wall, and paced in front of them.

"Now, we have enough here for nice round pairs in this Army, helping us to cover more ground, along with several other reasons that this is a good method of fighting.

"For one, you know your back is covered, and you can concentrate more on the opponents in front of you. Another, is that you will be able to help each other out, and that you have a better chance of succeeding than one.

"There is the chance that you will be split up, however, and we will work on individual fighting as much - but realistically, pairs and groups are better. So, I've drafted up a list of pairs, the other person of which you will come to know like the back of your hand, and will be able to read without a word. Some of you already can, which is a great start. You mightn't know the person you are assigned with that well, so I suggest you get to know each other. One day, it could save your life."

There was a chilling silence in the room.

"So, pairs. If one could go and stand behind the other, that would be good. Ok, Fred and George."

George bounded behind his twin, high-fiving him on the way.

"Seamus and Dean. Andrew and Jack. Michael and Zacharias. Hannah and Blaise. Ron and Ginny. And then Hermione and me. I want everyone to get into their pairs and start to get to know the other. If you already do, then dig deeper - know them better than you know yourself. Know what their next thoughts and actions will be, and what the slightest movement they do means. Every little thing."

* * *

_Wednesday 13th July, 1995_

One week had passed inside the house, but it seemed so much longer to the occupants inside, many of whom had learnt to wake up and early and escape the 'pleasant' 5 a.m. wake-up call Harry still provided.

This pattern of growing used to things applied also to the swift uprising of fitness and ability the classes they were taking (the Unicorn Unit were also now taking Healing lessons), as well as getting to know their assigned partners, and often ran with them, coming to talk to them more and more, as well as the others in the groups.

Slowly, they were becoming tight-knit and trusting of each other - slow and steady, but it was a good start.

This seemed a familiar pattern with Harry's Occlumency, where he had managed to create a small net around what was two seconds of a certain weak memory, before it disintegrated at the slightest touch of prodding.

Although shields was a main part of the art of Occlumency, if someone, somehow, managed to get in, it was vital to protect the memories you wanted to as well, as Salazar have told him during his introduction to Occlumency (better than in any of the books he had read).

However, it was better doing it slow and right than fast and wrong, no matter how frustrated Harry felt at his snail-like progress. (which was proved by his near-manic working with Ron, Hermione and Ginny during odd times to help develop them further, as well as additional classes including Neville and Luna, reuniting the Ministry Six, or 'Raiders of the Lost Prophecy' as Dean had jokingly called them, into a unit of their own, should the need arise.

* * *

_Saturday 30th July, 1995_

Harry watched the grandfather clock in the dorm slowly moved to 11:59 p.m., the soft snores of his dorm-mates slowly disturbing the silence of the house, which had gradually been growing larger, as if expecting the big event that was to come.

Harry could feel the tension in his soul, and Godric and Salazar had long since stopped bickering inside his head, leaving the seconds to slow move towards the half-minute, showing his time as a semi-normal teenager slowly, and yet so quickly, drawing to an end.

He had remembered the first time so clearly, and the thought of reliving such a moment was a strange sensation, like a sense of de-ja-vu that you knew was completely right at the time.

And as the second hand slowly moved to five seconds, he closed his emerald eyes and counted under his breath, before, at the strike of midnight, he fell into the world of unconsciousness.

_He was in the desert once again, hot sun burning the back of his neck with its unforgiving rays, and several rays stretching to his aching back, soothing his tensed muscles, which he had pulled during the last wandless combat of the day, when teaching the Thestral Unit several kickboxing moves._

_He looked around, taking in all the scenes and sights before, in front of him, two men appeared before him._

_One was...well, he could only be described as Ancient. He had a long, silver beard, bright blue eyes, and long, billowing green dress robes (billowing despite the fact that there was no wind, which made Harry wanted to laugh. The other man was taller and younger, and looked rather fresh and clean-cut in his younger form, different from the first time whenever he had appeared in 'the Merlin'._

"_Hello, Harold Potter." Merlin said calmly, radiating power and wisdom that only he could (although Albus was close)._

"_Hey, old man." Harry said in a similar tone, seeing a slight look of surprise on the old man's face._

"_Hey, sort of old man." Godric winked, allowing a slight smile to show on his face before it vanished as fast it had appeared._

_What Godric and Salazar had done was not exactly the most legal thing in the Universe, and they had all agreed to tell as few people as possible - and it might even be fun to know something that Merlin didn't._

_Merlin glanced at Godric, who gave a slight shrug before turning and continuing._

"_I am Merlin."_

"_And I am Godric Gryffindor."_

"_And I am Harry Potter. Could you get a move on? My back's killing me here." _

_Harry was glancing around before sighing and taking a seat on the ground._

"_If that is what you wish. Have you heard of the Heir of the Legends before?"_

_Harry looked at him calmly and nodded._

"_Yeah…the first Heir of Merlin with half his powers and the second with double his powers…not exactly true, but around your level."_

_Merlin looked like he didn't know quite what to say._

_Godric did though._

"_Since we obviously don't have to explain more, we should get straight to business…"_

"_Again, that's what I'd like."_

_Godric held out a simple golden key, however, encrusted into the shining metal, were several rubies._

"_This is the key for a trunk we will supply you with, to further your training, and to help you…it is also a blood right of your to inherit this trunk. This key would usually go around the neck, however, there is a choice of this, or having it melded with your magical aura, so that you can always access it. Of course, if you allow your friends access, you will need to invite them in and instruct the trunk to do so."_

_Harry simply nodded, and Godric understood._

_A minute later, with said deed done, Merlin got back into the swing of things and presented him his trunk (which he realised differed slightly from last time, no doubt thanks to Godric and his new thoughts of compacting and multi-tasking spaces and, apparently, compartments)._

_There were 4 compartments._

_An apartment_

_A library_

_An outdoors training ground_

_A duelling Arena/Gymnasium_

_The apartment was small but charming, with a considerable living room, dining room and kitchen, and a modest bedroom, with en-suite bathroom. There were also several modest guest bedrooms. It also had a nice refillable fridge and few large crates of butterbeer, saved for a rainy day, as well as a stock of everyday potions, for illnesses and the likes._

_The Library was the same size as it had been before, with books crammed into every available space of the large library, however, while the books were listed in a thick book in the middle of the room (and it had been magically resized), the ability to summon them had gone, meaning that he would have to, at the very best, run around searching._

_The outdoors training ground was like an athletics arena, with a large red track surrounding a large grass area, and a swimming pool. There was also an assault course that he looked forward to taking._

_The duelling arena was a large room (with many charms on the floors and walls to stop people from being hurt when falling over or into them), containing several stationary practice dummies and several moving ones, to practice duelling and the likes._

"_Now, 5 hours inside shall represent 1 hour inside (A/N - one of the changes I've made), just so that you can remember, and get a good night's sleep for once."_

_Harry coloured slightly, but held back a blush._

_Godric smirked at him, reminded him, freakily enough, of Salazar. _

_He would have to tease the man about that._

"_Also," Godric said, as he waved his wand, "Langue Totalus!"_

_Harry recognised this spell from before._

_A quick way to the power of the world in a way, being able to talk to anyone. The ability to start a new language would also be a great advantage to the Order._

"_Also, I believe that we should modify this watch of yours…these four sapphire buttons on the side of the rim shall represent the four compartments of your trunk, and shall allow you easy access from anywhere. Now, I must ask, how is your Army going?"_

_Merlin, who appeared to know about the army, smiled at Harry.  
__  
"Actually it's going rather well, although how we're going to cover up the fact we've been missing for the last month…coming two months…is pretty much impossible."_

"_It seems that you underestimate us, Harry." Godric continued, a twinkle in his eyes. "And I'm sure that no-one will question you…people will be believe that your members have been where they were supposed to be all along, discarding those notes have been burnt, and that you stayed at your relatives for the summer. However, it is getting late, and we must be leaving."_

_Merlin nodded, and wished him well before vanishing._

_Godric looked around before moving up to him._

"_By the way, we can continue our lessons here at night, so get more sleep - you need it."_

_And then, he too vanished, and Harry fell into the subtle world of dreams.

* * *

_

This is a short chapter, but this is all I really wanted to put into it. The next chapter will be the initiation ceremony, before they all return home.


	5. A birthday, a month, a return trip home

Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters, places (unless they are of my own creation and I shall add notes in for that later), songs etc. Most of this belongs to JK bows.

Yes, Larson and Richard are Salazar and Godric - modified, but still recognisable.

Also, this story will be following the general plot of HOTL, but things will be different (for the better).

Once again, thanks for your reviews :D

* * *

_Sunday, 31st July, 1995_

The day had passed normally for him, and although Harry was slightly hurt that no-one had even wished him a 'happy birthday', he hid it well - although he took out his emotions on his targets during weapon's practice. They were left in various states of disrepair.

It was later that day, during the free-time slot before dinner, whenever he sat with a book on Transfiguration, aimlessly flicking through the pictures in hopes if distracting himself.

It didn't work.

He paced the room.

That didn't work either.

He looked out the window at the silent grounds.

Nothing.

He resigned himself to a lonely birthday, which he was far too used to, and flicked his wrist at a table, turning it into a guitar, which he picked up and slowly tuned, and transfiguring a quill into a plectrum before strumming g a chord.

Then, sure it was indeed in-tune, started to strum and sing quietly to himself, letting a solitary slide down his face as the loneliness of the situation slowly smothered him.

_**1234567890**_

Whenever Harry dejectedly trudged into the Dining Hall later, he took his seat, mumbling a hello to Ron and Hermione, and eating a light dinner.

It was a quiet affair, admittedly, however, just after everyone had finished, suddenly, the lights dimmed, and several candles lit in the corner.

Harry's eyes, which had snapped up the second the lights had gone out, suddenly seemed to glow in joy.

And Ron and Hermione, who had been quiet, suddenly beamed and started a very rousing rendition of 'Happy Birthday', soon joined in by the other members of the Order.

His heart leapt as a large chocolate cake with sixteen lit candles on the top was set in front of him.

Harry, who had found memories of his summer at Grimmauld Place suddenly unable to recall, and who had never had a lit birthday cake placed in front of him before, looked at Hermione, who was next to him.

"What do I do now?" He whispered curiously.

He had never been to a birthday party in his life, and even then, as a flash of Grimmauld Place came to mind, he had never had a cake with candles set it front of him.

If Hermione was shocked, appalled and angry that Harry didn't know the tradition, she didn't let it show.

"You blow them out, and make a wish." She replied, just as quietly.

And Harry, his heart near to bursting with joy, closed his eyes and blew out the candles, one wish in mind.

'_I wish that I'll win this war for everyone…even if it means sacrificing myself…'_

Then, with one blow, the candles all went out, and a loud roar filled the room.

Later, whenever he looked back, he realised that this was one of his happiest memories, even though he never received any presents or the likes.

Having his friends with him was enough for then.

The time passed slowly in the grounds of Black Manor after the party, however, inside, the training of the soldiers was progressing leaps and bounds, and even the youngest, who were coming third years, were able to do sixth-year level and above Defence Spells, and able to keep up with the vigorous run and assault course that had become the morning ritual.

It was on the morning of August the 28th that the members of the Order were allowed to sleep in later than usual, surprising many when they were woken at 10 that morning, to find wicker baskets on the end of their beds.

And, obviously sensing something was up, they immediately dug inside.

The first thing they found were flowing Prussian Blue Battle Robes.

A silver Dragon wrapped around the left shoulder of the robes, with silver/bronze buttons and silver/bronze trimmings running around the main robes and the hood, and various different numbers of stripes on the cuffs, the most, they found, were seven alternating gold and silver stripes, on Ron and Hermione's robes.

The next thing was a Dragon pendant, made of silver, with stunning dark blue sapphires for eyes, which would serve as an emergency Portkey, a Portkey to their training (which would carry on in Black Manor under several time-charms so that, overall, it would only take two hours of their time every morning), and would grow warm if they were needed with a customised Protean Charm.

Following this were several Dragon-Hide products, to provide extra protection that the spell-woven robes didn't, with a vest (with long sleeves), trousers (adjusting length) and two pairs of fingerless gloves. These would soften the impact of spells and physical hits significantly.

One HK5SD, two Mark23SDs, two daggers and six holsters later (one extra for their wands), the members came across an honorary sword, which they had also been trained to fight effectively with.

It was made of the finest silver, diamond-hardness and strength, and enough shine that they all shared the opinion it would never die down. Each had a Hungarian Horntail wrapped around, breathing out a luscious fire.

Davy Fletcher really outdid himself.

And finally, a simple note, addressed to each of them, appeared after they had seen this all.

'_Don't come down to the Dining Hall. Breakfast will be in your Common Rooms. Get into your uniforms.'_

_**1234567890**_

Harry started to walk from the Dining Hall towards the Common Rooms, having just finished preparations for the initiation at long last, after over a month and a half of blood, sweat and toil.

He himself was dressed in robes of Prussian blue, however, with gold trimmings, eight golden stripes, several gold buttons and a large gold and silver Dragon around his left shoulder. Also, the sword around his waist was slightly different, with a Phoenix coming from the Dragon's heavenly flames.

Truly fitting for him.

And as his soft footsteps echoed in the silent halls, his mind wondered over certain people and things that had stood out most to him.

The first, and biggest, change that had stood out was that of Neville Longbottom. The once shy, clumsy boy he had known several months ago had slowly transformed into a rather handsome young man, still clumsy and not the most confident of people, but his strong will, determination to prove himself and his new wand (12 inches, hornbeam, unicorn tail hair) had shone out, most especially in the healing course he taught everyone.

He had a surprisingly strong will, and a firm belief of doing what was the right thing to do, perhaps from his own years of being bullied and teased. He was a good leader, and many people came to him for advice, which he was only to glad to offer.

Harry had found a good friend in him, and was slowly bringing him out of his shell, even giving the boy (whose birthday was the day before his) a birthday present of his meal for a main course and dessert the night of his birthday, along with a small sponge cake.

It was all he could do, but the young man seemed so pleased about it, he couldn't stop smiling.

It made Harry smile as well.

Luna Lovegood was the next in his mind. The dreamy Ravenclaw, despite appearances, was not as inattentive or air-headed as many may assume, and actually knew far more than she had previously let on. She had a great skill of healing, although not the natural touch that Neville had, as well as, surprisingly, a good interrogation manner.

She was easy-going, but determined, and, like Neville, people slowly got to see the real her.

This had gained her a fair few more friends than she had had previously, including Harry, and she offered blunt, honest statements to those who asked.

There always had to be a critic in the group, and Luna was that person.

Ginny followed this. He had surveyed her at the start of their training, before, through it, starting to talk to her and get to know her better. He had been considering the option of having that part of his memory wiped, of his relationship with Ginny before, to see what would happen in the current situation.

No-one else was going to die because of him - he couldn't live with himself.

However, despite this, he had gotten to know better than before, her strong character and her slightly-bossy manner, but also her caring and loyalty and, if her brothers were honest, her tough nature.

He was glad he had talked to her again, and they had fast been becoming close friends.

Others flew past his mind's eye, including Blaise Zabini, the proud, witty Slytherin sixth-year (male), Theodore Nott, best friend of Blaise and quite similar to the boy, only with a touch more sarcasm, Colin and Dennis Creevey, who had finally gotten past their Potter-worship days and had become like his little brothers in a way, Graham Pritchard, a kind, loyal third-year Slytherin, and Natalie McDonald, the caring, brave third-year who was prepared to stand up for her beliefs.

If he had ever been proud of something in his life, it was these teenagers, and what they had truly achieved.

His Dragon-Hide boots softly echoed around the Halls, his military-like stance carrying him proudly towards the Thestral Common Room, where he knew that all the Units were gathered, dressed in their uniforms and probably rather confused.

He hid a grin at the thought.

Walking up to the portrait guarding it, a Knight, he bowed and said the password ('Domine'), before entering inside unnoticed.

To his amusement, everyone was involved in a very loud game of charades.

"Whenever you're all ready." He said jokingly, his soothing tenor voice carrying over the many suggestions being shouted at a lost Dean Thomas.

Whenever they noticed him, they jumped up quietly and saluted him.

He saluted back.

"Get into your units and follow me."

Without word, his orders were obeyed.

_**1234567890**_

The Dining Hall had many Prussian blue hangings around the room, with two crossed swords with a Dragon in the centre and around on them in flowing silver strokes, matching the crest on the right arm on the robes, backed by a patch of midnight black.

The usual long table in the centre of the room had been removed long ago, and all that remained of it was space.

At the front of the Hall, a raised platform stood proudly, a wooden podium at the front, which Harry marched up to and stood behind as his 'troops' marched and stood proudly before him, their hoods down revealing their faces to him.

"Today," he began softly, "you are all going to pass through these doors for the first time as one of the most elite and deadly Army forces the world has to offer."

He stood up slightly straighter, more proudly than he had been carrying himself before.

"You have completed training that would have a magical equivalent of the SAS in tears. You have trained in ways that would confuse and effectively take out Death Eaters who think only of their magic, and can only use that. In the last couple of months, you have learnt how to fight, alone, in pairs and in groups, in ways that your opponents will never expect, and have learnt many new skills that could, and probably will, one day save your life."

He paused and looked around the room.

"You will all one day face your worst fears. You will face death and evil itself, and you will falter. But then you will see those you love and care for before your eyes, the ones that you fight to protect with every ounce of will that you possess, and you will fight them with vigour, grace and determination. You will fight them with a duty to protect not only those you love, but those innocents who have yet to live, to experience a world without war, without death and destruction.

"We fight for a world like that. We fight for a world where mothers don't have to worry about their children day after day, night after night. We fight for a day whenever people can go into the streets and not have to look around in fear. We fight for a day whenever a person comes to find that sickly green sign above their homes. And we fight for a day whenever we ourselves can raise our children and grandchildren without having to worry about them being ripped away from us by the grip of evil, to worry about them being raised in a time of war."

He voice had grown progressively louder.

"Together, we will fight for the innocent. And we shall not be afraid. We shall stand proudly. We shall show no mercy to those we fight, for they have and never will shown us any. And we shall prevail as magnificently as a Phoenix rises from the ashes. We shall prevail. We shall prevail for life, love and freedom! _Spiritus , amor et libertas! _We shall prevail. We shall prevail!"

In the end he was shouting, his voice filled with raw emotion, and as he finished, he caught many nods of agreement and heartened looks, and he took a sip of water before unrolling a large scroll written out the other night.

"And so, the Order of the Dragon shall begin its Legacy. I am your Dragon General, now to be addressed as General Potter. Below this position is that of Lieutenant General, who shall together take lead of the Army should, at any time, I become incapacitated. You shall address these people as Lieutenant General. Below this are your Brigadier Generals, again addressed as such. They shall lead your Units into Battle. A Colonel is again below this, who shall take over the Unit should anything happen to the Brigadier General. A Lieutenant Colonel is the next in Command, again to take leadership if something were to happen to both the Brigadier and the Colonel.

"Then, after this, there are the more junior positions of the Army. Major is next, followed by Captain, and finally, Lieutenant. You shall, during all times this Army is in session, call your superiors by their assigned titles, unless otherwise directed, during Battle situations."

He then stepped away from the podium, still holding the scroll.

"And with this, we shall begin announcing said ranks. For the positions of Lieutenant General, I call forward Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger."

The Army saluted them as they marched forward together, their robes of silver trimmings and the seven alternating gold and silver stripes on their cuffs now showing much clearer meaning than they had previously, and they stood in front of him.

As he saluted them and sent them back to their positions, there was a large round of applause.

"Next, for the positions of Brigadier General, for Units Thestral, Griffin and Unicorn in such order, I call forward Ginerva Weasley, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood."

They themselves had six stripes of silver.

"For the positions of Colonel, for Units Thestral, Griffin and Unicorn in such order, I call forward Fred Weasley, Angelina Johnston and Katie Bell."

Five silver stripes.

"For the positions of Lieutenant Colonel, for Units Thestral, Griffin and Unicorn in such order, I call forward George Weasley, Lee Jordan and Alicia Spinnet."

Four silver stripes.

"For the positions of Major, for Units Thestral, Griffin and Unicorn in such order, I call forward Seamus Finnegan, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Terry Boot."

Three alternating stripes of silver and bronze.

"For the positions of Captain, for Units Thestral, Griffin and Unicorn in such order, I call forward Blaise Zabini, Anthony Goldstein and Theodore Nott."

Two stripes of alternating silver and bronze.

"Finally, for the positions of Lieutenant, from Unit Thestral, I call forward Dean Thomas, Hannah Abbott, Jack Sloper, Andrew Kirke, Michael Corner and Zacharias Smith. From Unit Griffin, I call forward Colin Creevey, Dennis Creevey, Padma Patil, Lisa Turpin and Daphne Greengrass. And, from Unit Unicorn, I call forward Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, Natalie McDonald, Mandy Brocklehurst, Susan Bones and Graham Pritchard."

One bronze stripe.

And as the last person finally had retaken their place, Harry relaxed his military stance and smiled.

"And now, everyone, it is time that you all return to the rest of your summer holidays."

There were several mutters which were quickly silenced.

"For those who are out of Hogwarts, plus Katie, it is believed that you were on holiday in the Caribbean. For those in Hogwarts, it is believed that you are on holiday with friends somewhere. It is believed that I am currently with Hermione, who it is believed is staying with Ron and Ginny, who are currently believed to also be staying with Hermione as well. It is a simple thing, however, even if irregularities are noticed, they will be ignored."

There were several curious looks, but nothing was said.

"Speaking of which, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, we have to catch a Portkey soon, to Headquarters, so you better get moving. Everyone else, you are dismissed, and your Portkeys shall take you home and bring you back for training every morning - several time charms around the area shall cut down the time you spend, allowing for 5 am to 7 am. Thanks to Larson and Richard for that. Have a good summer everyone, and…well, there's no point. Have a good trip back."

* * *

_Friday, 1st September, 1995_

September first had always been a rush for all concerned.

People crashing into each other on the stairs, shouts about lost items echoing around the house, and the general hustle and bustle associated with the Weasley's always fashionably nearly-late arrival at Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

Today was no different, despite the Floo Connection in place, and the now slimmed-down group of four students had just managed to make it onto the train, with Ron having to run after it and jump on just as it was about to pull away from the platform completely.

"And that is why you do endurance training." Harry stated simply, helping Ron up with the offered and accepted hand.

_**1234567890**_

Dodging Peeve's water balloons once again, the Trio of Ron, Hermione and Harry entered and sat in their usual seats at Gryffindor table, surrounded by Seamus, Dean, Neville and the rest of the sixth year DA (they had decided to keep the name for nickname - Dragon's Army), and they all started talking quietly with each other.

His Grandmother walked in with a face of no emotion, leading the group of nervous first-years towards the Sorting Hat (despite the still persistent rumours of a troll), and he suddenly felt himself drift away in his mind - however, with all his will-power, he began to fight the vision bringing him to the borders of unconsciousness, and closed his eyes.

He saw, after searching for several seconds, the dark black link of Voldemort pulsating in his mind, and, with all his strength, pushed it away.

Since it was unintentional, it was significantly weaker, he managed to push it away at long last.

He opened his eyes and sighed in relief as he saw no-one looking at him, not noticing the curious eyes of Albus Dumbledore resting on him.

* * *

Thanks again to everyone! I would have posted this earlier, but my account was disable for a bit, because I posted the notice that the story was over here - sorry about that, lol, completely forgot about that.

Thanks for reading and I hope you like it.


	6. Alarm clocks and the Diagon Alley Battle

Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters, places (unless they are of my own creation and I shall add notes in for that later), songs etc. Most of this belongs to JK bows.

Once again, thanks for your reviews :D

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_2nd September, 1995_

Harry was slowly awoken the next morning at 4:30, thanks to his personal alarm clock.

'_**It wasn't my fault, you dunderhead Gryffindork!'**_

'**_So it _wasn't_ your fault that that snake suddenly came after me, after you started hissing at it and gesturing at me?' _**

'_**It was a millennia ago! Get over it already!'**_

'_Will you two keep it down? It's bad enough being woken up at this time, but you two bickering like little old ladies with handbags is just pathetic.'_

They fell silent.

'_Thank you. Now, you two get into your body forms and get over to Black Manor. I'll be over in a minute once I get ready.'_

The two left his mind, and he climbed out of bed, stealthily pulling on his Order robes, boots and gloves, and picking up and adjusting his weapons, before he grabbed his pendant.

He vanished silently.

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_1st October, 1995_

The month of September flew by, with few points making it stand out, bar perhaps the assembling of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, with Seamus and Dean the selected Beaters, Ginny as Seeker, Ron as Goalkeeper and Harry, Katie and Natalie McDonald as Chasers.

Also, his looks had once again changed (although he controlled it with his Metamorphamagus skills, to keep it the way it was before), he had gotten back Sirius, his mum and dad back once again (that had been the high-point of the month by far), and, much to Harry's amusement, he had also started to produce a few subtle pranks, with several helpful hints by his dad and Sirius.

Another point of the month was whenever he gathered Ron, Hermione and Ginny, about the possibility of starting a band up, which had been a big hit with them all, and they had started to practice a few songs every night in Harry's trunk.

However, it was on the first of October, as Harry had been planning and preparing for, the day of the attack on Diagon Alley.

Luckily for all involved, it was a Sunday, and Harry had spent the morning with Ron and his tactics department, consisting of Ron, Ginny, Justin, Anthony Goldstein, Andrew Kirke, Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas, pouring over a large map of Diagon Alley.

When question to how he knew if there would be an attack, he simply tapped his scar.

No more questions were asked.

At three o'clock, Harry felt a jab in his scar, and he stood before the three Units.

"It's time for your first Battle." He stated simply. "It will not be easy to kill and hurt. It will not be easy to fight heartless murders in masks of fear. But it is something that we must do, that we have to do. The Order will not arrive for a while, so we must move quickly and save all we can.

"You all know your Units and pairs, you all know what you must do. Thestral, take portkey one, Griffin, portkey two, Unicorn, portkey three. All Units ready…and good luck."

The thirty-four Battle-ready warriors vanished.

_**1234567890**_

The Units had transported to different areas of the Alley.

The Thestral Unit had appeared in a hidden alley beside the Leaky Cauldron, where the brunt of the attack was taking place.

The Griffin Unit was further up the Alley, near Gringotts and Knockturn Alley (where no attack ever took place).

The Unicorn Unit was based at the end of the Alley, beside Ollivander's.

Harry felt a cold chill take him from his place behind the dustbin, and he swore.

Dementors were approaching.

Apparently, Voldemort, for some reason, wanted a larger-scale attack than last time. And it seemed that he had at least a hundred Dementors…and several hundred Death Eaters.

'_**Snidget, this is Lioness, Eagle-Eye reports one hundred and five Dementors closing in and that they should be in our location within half-an-hour. Currently, we have ninety-seven Death Eaters. Apparently, the brunt is in our area, and the least near Unicorn.'**_

Lioness was Ginny, who was currently further down the alley.

'_**Thanks Lioness. Lioness, Bear, Moose, organise your troops and get moving. All troops, prepare to engage into Battle situation. Offensive until further ordered. Roger?'**_

'**_Roger'_** were the three joint replies of Ginny, Neville and Luna, and Harry nodded at Hermione, his partner, before getting his sword in one hand, his wand in another, and jumping out and started slashing and cursing his opponents while back to back with Hermione.

"Coniugo!" Harry shouted flicking his wand, causing a Death Eater to be bound tightly in thick rope. Another Death Eater fell over him.

'**_Bear, Moose, how are your Units doing?'_** Harry shouted in his mind, rolling under Hermione who jumped over him, and started shooting spells in the opposite direction.

'_**Bear here. We're going well, although Angelfish is currently hurt. Snail is healing her as we speak.'**_

Padma Patil hurt, and being healed by Daphne Greengrass.

'_**Same here, Snidget, although we've had another influx of Death Eaters, and they're not afraid to use the Unforgivables…no AK's, but Crucio definitely. None of our people have been hit though.'**_

'_**Augurey here, another Unit have apparated in beside the Leaky Cauldron, near me and my group. Should we take them out, General?'**_

The Augurey was known as the Irish Phoenix, very fitting for Seamus Finnegan, Harry had thought.

'_**How many are there, Major?'**_

'_**A half dozen, General.'**_

'_**Proceed with caution, but take them out if you can. Use your machine guns if you need to.'**_

'_**Roger, General.'**_

The Battle was getting even fiercer, and those civilians who were fighting were slowly falling, although many were being healed and protected by the Dragons.

One Death Eater came in close to Harry, and he nailed him with an elbow to the head, also shooting his pistol in between the Death Eater's eyes.

He never stood a chance.

Harry and Hermione were doing very well, having taken out at least a dozen Death Eaters out themselves. However, just as the Battle slowly started to fall in their favour, the Dementors came.

Harry had felt them before they had arrived, because of his sensitive reaction to them, and he felt his staff arrive in his hands at his call.

He heard Hermione's gasp, but ignored it, swiftly taking out the Death Eaters in front of him with a quick swipe of the magnificent weapon before stepping forward.

'_**Patronus Unit! I need you by the Leaky Cauldron ASAP…they are coming in quickly…they'll be here in a few seconds.'**_

Hermione, Ron, Neville, Fred, George and Alicia rushed to him, and they stood by his side.

"Only cast whenever I say." He said calmly, using his machine gun to take out a few lingering Death Eaters.

Before they could nod, a swarm of Dementors came towards them.

Twenty metres.

Ten metres.

Nine metres.

Eight metres.

Seven metres.

Six metres.

Five metres.

"NOW!" Harry bellowed, and raised his staff, his eyes being licked by emerald flames as he followed it with "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Six other shouts were heard, and six beautiful shining animals, not completely corporal, shot forward. None of them were used to the Dementors, after all.

His own shout, the final shout, produced a shining Moony, Padfoot and Prongs, large and shining silver, golden fires surrounding them as they charged, running through the Dementors.

Inhuman shrieks filled the air as they quickly went away, however, those touched by the silver prongs of Prongs, the paws of Padfoot or the snout of Moony were evaporated into a black mist, before vanishing, their cloaks and grey, scaly skin disappearing completely.

Satisfied, he turned to face the gaping, cloaked faces of the Patronus unit.

"Not a word of that to anyone." He said shortly, before jumping back into the Battle.

Hermione ran after him, being his partner, while the others stood stock still for a second before returning to the Battle, and their Units, themselves, slashing and shooting spells quickly and expertly.

However, Fate sprung another surprise. Nothing was ever too easy.

'_**You-Know-Who has arrived, Snidget. He's coming from your end. And the Order has arrived, including Dumbledore.'**_

'_**Got it. Thanks, Lioness.'**_

He glanced at Hermione, and she kept his back as he charged forward, finding Albus stepping towards Voldemort himself. Harry cut in front of him, Hermione standing back slightly. Voldemort was Harry's, and he wouldn't allow anyone else to fight him.

The man's dark, serpentine features were clear, and he was watching in obvious amusement of the destruction. He was even more amused whenever a figure in blue robes cut in front of Albus Dumbledore. He was obviously part of this elite team that was taking apart his Death Eaters…decimating would be a better word.

The figure strode forward calmly and confidently.

Harry was trying to ignore the stabbing pain his scar.

"Hello, Tom." Harry said calmly. "I am the Dragon General of the Order of the Dragon. You can call me Snidget."

Voldemort looked upon him as he so calmly addressed him, and smirked, deciding to for-go the calling of his name for the time being.

"Snidget." He said calmly. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I am rather surprised at the efficiency that you are leading your Army, and you would be most welcome within my ranks…and those in your Army."

Harry had expected something like this, but it was still a shock.

"You would know better than to ask me if you knew…" He left it hanging, knowing it would infuriate him.

"But I think I'll pass for now. After all, you are a Half-Blood, psychopathic murderer."

Voldemort lost his calm appearance and as fast as lightning had brought out his wand and had shot an Avada Kedavra.

Harry, whose staff had appeared in hand once again, dodged it, and started shooting off rapid spells of his own.

The Battle had begun.

Those around them watched in amazement as the two fought, spells of many colours leaving their wands/staffs in seconds.

Harry was thankful he had put so much effort into getting fit, and was grudgingly thankful to Salazar for putting them through those gruelling runs in the mornings, or he was sure he would have been tired out by now.

He was going strong.

"You know, Tommy, this is rather pathetic for someone who wants to take over the world." Harry mocked, dodging a Cruciatus and shooting off a similar spell, although it was not classified as an Unforgivable, it was close.

Salazar had also taught Harry the Dark Arts. It was good to know what your enemy used, and what such thing was Dark and Light arts anyways?

Voldemort was enraged and started shooting spells faster.

Harry rolled his eyes.

For a Slytherin, it was way too easy to push his buttons.

Harry's staff vanished, and he dodged several spells before pulling out his sword.

"How about we duel like men?" He asked calmly.

Voldemort, in reply, summoned a sword, clearly of Slytherin, and they ran towards each other, swords at the ready, clashing quickly.

Harry was a natural with a sword, which showed clearly whenever he gained the upper hand against the serpentine Lord.

"Who are you?" He hissed as Harry held back his pushing.

"I said that you could call me Snidget, Tom. But I guess, just for you, you can call me the Boy-Who-Lived-to-kick-your-arse."

Voldemort was so surprised that Harry managed to hit him again.

"Although we wouldn't want anyone else to know that, would we?" Harry continued sadly. "You are bound by the scar on my head and on your back from that night. No information about this can be told to anyone, or communicated. You can of course call me Snidget, or Dragon General, but nothing more. Goodbye, Tom."

Harry calmly snapped his fingers, and every member of the Order of the Dragon, who had decimated the Death Eaters (trying to kill as little as possible) vanished, Harry catching sight of a bound Peter Pettigrew before he too disappeared, as did the Dark Lord and his remaining minions.

He did not notice, once again, the questioning look of Albus Dumbledore following him.

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I'm going on holiday for the next few weeks, just to let you know, hence why this chapter is shorter than usual. I'll try and have the next one up ASAP, before I go if possible, but just incase not, here's Chapter 6 for you all.

Thanks for your reviews.


	7. Talk, relief and duelling

Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters, places (unless they are of my own creation and I shall add notes in for that later), songs etc. Most of this belongs to JK bows.

Authors notes - Just a few notes, basically. Someone mentioned about the names such as 'Snidget', 'Lioness' etc. These are codenames for the members, basically ones I slaved over for an age between chapters - I'll post a list up on the internet some time, along with a list of the departments, members, units, pairs etc. These are all on my CPU now, so they'll be up soon, and the address will be posted here. (**Later added - this is the address for the website about all my stories, including a lot of info - http/ smellycat190. 4t . com (without the spaces).**

I've also just learnt that song lyrics aren't allowed. Hence why there shall be none from now on, just incase you were wondering.

Thiswill be very very very loosely based on HBP, but is mostly AU. The traitor will still be there, but not the death. Slughorn turned the job down, basically, because Harry did not go with Dumbledore. Therefore, Snape is still Potions master, and Tonks is DADA Professor. The death won't be there, although perhaps maybe another character or two in their place…we'll see. I couldn't let this person die in mine - I love them! I was distraught when I read that, and about the betrayal…

Before I start rambling on about it, once again, thanks for your reviews - even the bad ones were rather amusing. Someone mention about puberty and the likes, and romance…I didn't fully understand that one, but I don't really want a repeat, thanks.

(P.S. - I've been putting the wrong year…it's supposed to be 1996...silly me, lol)

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2nd October, 1996

The Daily Prophet, for the first time in the memory of the current Hogwarts era, reported the full truth of the Battle of Diagon Alley, including the mysterious Army who had 'valiantly and bravely defended the people at fought the Death Eaters with no fear in their noble hearts'.

The newspaper had several sources claiming that they were named the Dragons, or something with the word Dragon in it, and they were hailed as the new heroes of the Wizarding World, despite the fact that they were unknown to all but themselves and, of course, Lord Voldemort.

The only lead the Ministry, who were tracking them down, had was that their Leader was called Snidget.

It wouldn't get them far, but it was a start.

However, someone more powerful and influential than the Ministry was on the scent, and that was one, Albus Dumbledore.

It was a common rumour that he knew everything that happened in Hogwarts.

They were partially right, because few things did indeed steal away from the man's notice, like possessed and impersonated teachers, a diary that possessed a girl within the school and the fact that one of his teachers was a complete fraud; but apart from that, he did indeed know most things.

And one of them was that, in his mind's eye, it was very likely that his young charge was indeed Snidget, and the DA, significantly larger, was the 'Dragon Army'.

He had no proof.

But he was so certain of his suspicions that, after breakfast, he sent a note to the young man to meet him up in his office.

He was rather surprised whenever he popped up in front of him.

Literally.

"Hey Professor, you called?"

To his credit, Albus didn't show outward shock, but instead leant forward calmly in his chair, signalling for the young man to take a seat.

He took it without word.

"Yes indeed, Harry. And I believe you know the reason why I've called you here today?"

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"You mean you've finally decided to say? Yourself? I wouldn't have expected this for a while."

Albus looked slightly confused.

Harry slowly mirrored this look.

"I don't think we're talking about the same thing here, Professor." He said slowly.

'It took you that long to figure it out!'

'Sirius, don't make me hurt you.'

'What can you do to me now?'

'It's more what my mum can do now, and what I can do later.'

'Oh…well, um, I'll shut up then.'

'Good.'

Albus blinked.

"No, I don't think we are."

It was obvious he wanted to ask about this, but held his tongue, instead working towards what he had originally wanted to talk about.

"Harry, as you are aware via the Daily Prophet, there is a new Order fighting against Lord Voldemort."

Harry nodded, now very well aware of where this was going.

"Now, after seeing this group in action the other day, and seeing their leader battle against Tom, I can only come to one conclusion"

"That I'm Snidget and that the DA are the Dragons." Harry completed for him.

Albus nodded, smiling calmly, rather pleased that Harry had gotten his point so quickly.

"Well, I have to say that you are very perceptive, Headmaster…that's all true, bar that the traitor and her friend were not invited back, and that we invited other members, including several Slytherins. But before you say something else, I can explain why I did this."

Albus had begun to speak, and released his breath, nodding in consent.

"Many of the Order of the Phoenix, not yourself I know, believe that we are too young to fight, but as you know, this is my war.

"And whether I like it or not, these youngsters and this school are going to be in danger. So I trained them up and prepared them. It is our mission to help defend those too weak to defend themselves and to help stop the killings by attacking the Death Eaters whenever they strike…and not to be found out by adults who don't want us to be fighting." He added, more to himself than to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore had looked slightly startled at the addition of the Slytherins, but then again Harry Potter was not as prejudiced as most, if not at all, to Slytherin's supposed darkness. He had almost been sorted there himself after all, even if it was not known beyond himself and the sorting hat, and the Headmaster.

"I can definitely agree with that, Harry. Molly Weasley, for example, has been adamant that none of her children will join until they are out of age, even later if she can prevent it."

Harry nodded.

"Obviously you know about us…all I ask is that you don't tell anyone. We won't affiliate with the Order of the Phoenix, but we will stand by you in Battle whenever the time comes." Harry started, sounding professional, even though he was laughing on the inside, as his mum shouting at Sirius for something.

Dumbledore reclined, and offered the young man a lemon drop.

Harry took it.

The Headmaster in return had to smile - he was the first person in many years who had taken one…the first one ever, actually. He really was his Grandson….

He sighed.

He hated to keep such a large secret, but he knew he would have to wait until the right time to share it, no matter how much he wanted to break and spill all

Harry managed to conclude the general idea of what he was thinking, causing him to suddenly stand up, and new set of thoughts laid upon him, adding to the numerous layers of Harry Potter.

"I've got to go, Professor."

Without another word, he near ran out of the office.

And all day his thoughts drifted on how to break the news that he knew.

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3rd October, 1996

Owing to the fact that Ron hadn't gotten a howler from his mum that morning, it was clear to Harry that the Headmaster had kept his promise and not uttered a word about the identities of the mysterious Order of the Dragon.

However, Harry was watching the Headmaster closely…after all, a Marauder's prank could not be missed by the Marauder himself, and he had been itching to try this particular prank out.

Well, he had to get back into the swing of it somehow, didn't he?

He did feel slightly guilty for what he was about to his professors, but hopefully they would see the funny side.

Hopefully.

He counted down the seconds on his watch.

And finally, whenever it hit midday, it began.

Music started pumping into the Hall, and the students looked around confused, until white smog spread across the front of the Hall, and from it emerged four people.

A policeman, a biker, an Indian chief and a builder - Flitwick, Snape, Dumbledore and Hagrid in such order.

Those Muggleborns and Half-Bloods, who already recognised the tune, were torn between laughter and shock as the four men started dancing to the 'YMCA', but eventually laughter won out, and they could barely catch breath.

Those who had no idea about this particular part, could themselves barely hold back their guffaws, as the four started 'bumping' and doing a series of letters, in the form of 'Y', 'M', 'C' and 'A'.

The Muggleborns accompanied the four with the letters, all singing along cheerfully, and clapped the loudest whenever the music finally finished and the costumes vanished.

The four men were now all rather red in the face (this looked rather amusing on Snape) and quickly took their seats, three of the four laughing along in good spirits.

A faint red mist arose from the ground, and a symbol with a bold, red 'M' came into view.

'With compliments, Prongs Jr. - welcome back to the Marauders' era.'

The students all started muttering about this new development between their bouts of laughter, and Ron and Hermione turned to look at Harry, as did Albus and Minerva, the last of whom was already standing up.

So he did what any other person would do.

He fled, amongst the heavy applause and cheers of his schoolmates.

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After hiding out in the Common Room for a couple of hours, and a short band practice, Harry managed to make his way to the Room of Requirement without being found.

He walked past it three times and finally, whenever it appeared, entered quickly.

The room was a large empty chamber, the walls made of stone.

"Come on guys, let's go." Harry said to himself, and the two appeared in solid form, both in blue robes, already shooting silent spells at him, before apparating around the room.

Swiftly, Harry dodged the two spells, and he himself apparated, his muscles slowly growing heavier as he duelled the two men, who were relentless in their attacks.

Finally, he managed to take out Godric, and twenty minutes after, defeated Salazar.

He didn't boast - on the contrary, his wiped the sweat off of his forehead and smiled.

"That was a great duel…you two work well together whenever you aren't bickering."

Godric and Salazar looked at each other in horror, and Harry laughed.

"Ok, ok, sorry…anyway, is there anything I need to work on?"

Harry leant back against the chair which had appeared, and sat in it.

"Well, you should try and make less use of shields…being physically tired from dodging is better than being magically exhausted from continually producing even the smallest of shields."

"And is there any sign of my wandless magic coming back fully yet?"

The two men had admittedly been rather puzzled whenever his wandless magic had not nurtured itself completely once again, and had taken to studying him for it.

"Nothing," Salazar admitted. "Although I believe that it will happen whenever you least expect it - perhaps during a stressful situation on the likes. Until this happens, however, try and keep your usage of it to a minimum, and use it only whenever you can."

Harry, once again running a hand over his sweating forehead, grudgingly agreed.

"Fine, fine…but as soon as it comes back I'll happily use it to make cold drinks."

"We wouldn't expect any less."

"Shut up, Godric."

"Don't start again."

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5th October, 1996

The announcement spread throughout the Hall wildly.

The Hogwarts Duelling Tournament would be held that day, beginning in approximately half-an-hour.

Anyone could enter, and the winner would be awarded fifty house points and the title 'Hogwarts Duelling Captain'.

"Good luck to you all." Dumbledore finished, sitting down.

There had been a rush for the sing-up sheet situated at each House table, although at Gryffindor, Harry had managed to grab it first, and pass it to his friends, and the DA members, before he left to prepare, as did all of the Order, ignoring the mutterings and bets on who would win.

Up in his dorm, Harry pulled on a pair of dark green Battle robes.

After adjusting them to fit, and double-checking his Dragon-Hide body armour, he put on his Dragon-Hide boots and fingerless gloves, put his wand inside his wrist holster, charmed his glasses so that they couldn't be summoned, broken or fall off, and finally caught up with Ron and Hermione on the stairs going down to the Great Hall once again.

Ron was dressed in a similar fashion, however, his Battle robes were dark red. Hermione, also dressed in a similar way, wore soft blue robes.

The Hall was bustling, sporting several different areas where the matches would be taking place, and Harry watched in interest as several members of the Order were called upon first.

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Harry watched in the semi-final as Ron and Hermione stepped into the Duelling area.

Many around them were shouting various 'Go Weasley', 'Go get 'im, Granger' and 'Kill each other' 's, although Harry remained quiet - he didn't want to support one over the other.

It was an impressive twenty-five minute duel.

Ron had taken an early lead, due to more physical strength and reflex than Hermione had. However, being Harry's partner had come in useful, and her sheer knowledge of spells and ability to perform enabled her to fight back.

Wave after wave of power flew over Harry, and he watched the two closely.

Eventually, however, Ron defeated Hermione with a tripping jinx, and disarmed her before she could properly react.

The two, amongst the cheers of the crowd and the marvelling youngsters who looked at them with a new-held respect, then kissed and hugged the other, and surrounded by cat-calls and wolf-whistles, came over to Harry, both blushing red.

Harry smirked, and called over to Ginny, "You owe me ten galleons, Gin. Tell everyone else to cough up!"

He had just won a nice little pot in the Gryffindor betting pool, this one partaken by nearly every member of the House, and was obviously rather pleased about it.

Hermione and Ron, still blushing rather heavily, looked at him in surprise as the grumbling Gryffindors nearby fished out their pockets. They were even further surprised whenever Professor Dumbledore, who was standing nearby, gave him a couple of galleons, under the strict glare of Professor McGonagall, before walking quickly away, his head slightly bowed to avoid the seemingly irate and disapproving woman's eyes, to announce the final - Harry versus Ron.

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"Go easy on me, mate…I'm too young to die." Ron joked on the platform, as they wished the other good luck.

Harry smiled brightly.

"You've got as good a chance as me, Ron…"

Ron snorted.

"Ok gentleman." Dumbledore called out. "You know the rules…until the other is unconscious or disarmed, the match shall continue. Begin on the count of three…two…one…"

Before he had said 'duel', Ron was shooting spells at a lithely dodging Harry.

The crowd of students and Professors watched in amazement of both young men as Ron, who many had thought gained the leverage in the duel, was beaten back heavily by barrages of spells, and were surprised by the fact that his shield was still holding strong.

After several minutes, Ron's shield, under the weight of two strong stunners, disappeared, and quickly shot some stunners of his own in Harry's direction.

Harry, who had not seen them coming until the last second, threw himself to the floor, rolling backwards, and aimed three successive jinxes at Ron.

Ron dodged the first two, but the third was placed awkwardly, and despite his Dragon-Hide, the cutting curse sliced his shoulder.

He replied in turn with several bombarding curses, but Harry neatly dodged them, and he rolled out of the way to dodge the three stunners aimed at his previous position.

Panting slightly, he looked up to see Harry right in front of him, and before he could react, he had been successfully stunned, and his wand taken.

Silence rang throughout the Hall before a roar of approval and thunderous claps shook the castle to the very core.

Harry, slightly flustered, awoke Ron, and helped him up.

Ron grinned.

"I told you, mate."

"I know, I know…but you put up one heck of a fight."

Beaming in pride, and flushed at the attention he was receiving, he turned and grabbed Harry's arm, raising it up in victory.

Harry stood before them all, his eyes alight and a grin on his face, the congratulations of his mentors, parents and Sirius, and of his friends, worth more than he could ever truly tell them.

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Yet another chapter! It was a hard chapter- believe me - butit'll get a lot more juicy later on.

Prank suggestions are welcomed! As well as some Marauder names for Hermione and Ron, who are, once again, Owl and Falcon. They are currently in the stages of learning how to transform, and with time in Harry's trunk, will hopefully be completely finished by the end of the year.


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